Mayor praises Kit Malthouse and James Cleverly for their service

The Mayor of London has confirmed that his Deputy Mayor for Business & Enterprise, Kit Malthouse AM, will step down from his role next month and thanked him for his service to the capital.

Mr Malthouse has spent nearly seven years at City Hall, driving the Mayor’s two key policy objectives, initially as Deputy Mayor for Policing in the first term (2008-2012), and then as Deputy Mayor for Business & Enterprise in the second term (2012-2015). Kit Malthouse tendered his resignation to the Mayor earlier this month.His responsibilities as an elected member of the London Assembly are unchanged.

Mr Malthouse is seeking election in North-West Hampshire at the upcoming general election.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Kit Malthouse has been a vital part of my team since day one and the force of his personality, combined with his desire to lead from the front, has been key to helping us set new standards across the policing and economic briefs that he has led so successfully. He has made an immense contribution to London over the last seven years, I thank him for his service, and wish him all the very best in his future career.”

The Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise will also step down from his roles as the Vice Chair of the London Enterprise Partnership and Chair of London & Partners.

In tendering his resignation to the Mayor Mr Malthouse wrote: “I am grateful that you had the confidence to entrust me with your primary political priority in both terms of office, and that you allowed me my head in driving both the crime and economic agendas forward. It has been a singular experience. I wish you well for the remainder of your term and will do what I can to ensure it is as successful as the first seven years.”

The Deputy Mayor for Business & Enterprise leaves office on March 6 2015. His portfolio will be shared between a number of Deputy Mayors and senior advisors for the remainder of the Mayor’s second term.

At the same time the Mayor accepted the resignation of James Cleverly AM as the Chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, and the Chairman of the London Resilience Forum.

James Cleverly has chaired LFEPA since 2012. His responsibilities as an elected member of the London Assembly are unchanged. Mr Cleverly is seeking election in Braintree at the upcoming general election.

The Mayor recommended that Gareth Bacon AM should replace Mr Cleverly as LFEPA Chairman and as Chair of the London Resilience Forum. Mr Bacon's appointment as Chairman of LFEPA was confirmed at an Assembly scrutiny hearing today.

Paying tribute to Mr Cleverly's leadership the Mayor of London said: "James has done sterling work with LFEPA, steering through important reforms that have helped to produce a 21st century fire service for London that can rightly claim to be the best in the world. His leadership has brought modernisation and with it a continued reduction in fires and in deaths from fire. That's a considerable legacy to leave behind, and one for which I am hugely grateful to James for delivering."

In his letter of resignation to the Mayor Mr Cleverly wrote: “It has been an honour and a privilege to have served as Chairman since 2012. The London Fire Brigade has reinforced its position as the best fire and rescue service in the world and to have had the opportunity to work with such an outstanding organisation is an experience I will treasure. Although we have had to make a number of tough choices at LFEPA over the last few years, the ongoing excellent performance of the London Fire Brigade has vindicated those choices and I want to thank you personally for your support throughout my time as Chairman.”

Mr Cleverly will step down after the next Fire Authority meeting on March 26th.